Verifying interconnection between media devices and meters using touch sensing integrated circuits

ABSTRACT

An example meter to monitor a media device disclosed herein includes a circuit having (i) a circuit input to electrically couple with a reference capacitor and an input power line of the meter that is to electrically couple with an output power line of the media device, and (ii) a circuit output to provide a first value based on the reference capacitor when the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device, and a second value when the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device. The disclosed example meter also includes a processor to determine whether the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device based on whether the circuit output provides second value.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/371,973 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,387,284), which is entitled“VERIFYING INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN MEDIA DEVICES AND METERS USING TOUCHSENSING INTEGRATED CIRCUITS,” and which was filed on Dec. 7, 2016.Priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/371,973 is herebyexpressly claimed. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/371,973 is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to media device monitoring and, moreparticularly, to verifying interconnection between media devices andmeters using touch sensing integrated circuits.

BACKGROUND

Audience measurement systems typically include one or more site metersto monitor the media presented by one or more media devices located at amonitored site. In some arrangements, the monitored media device mayreceive media from one or more media sources, such as, but not limitedto, a set-top box (STB), a digital versatile disk (DVD) player, aBlu-ray Disk™ player, a gaming console, a computer, etc., which arepowered independently from the monitored media device. Accordingly,there is the possibility that, although a media source at the monitoredsite is powered on and providing media to the monitored media device,the monitored media device may be powered off and, thus, not activelypresenting the media provided by the media source. Therefore, to enableaccurate crediting of media exposure at the monitored site, some sitemeters further monitor the operating state of the monitored media deviceto determine whether the media device is powered off and not capable ofpresenting media, or powered on and capable of presenting media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system including an exampledevice meter constructed to verify interconnection between a mediadevice and the device meter with an example touch sensing integratedcircuit in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an example front view of the example meter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an example rear view of the example meter of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the meter ofFIG. 1, which includes an example operating state detector constructedin accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the exampleoperating state detector of FIG. 4, which includes an example deviceinterconnection verifier constructed in accordance with the teachings ofthis disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example deviceinterconnection verifier of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example operatingstate detector of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor platform structured toexecute the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 6 and/or 7 toimplement the example operating state detector of FIG. 4 and/or theexample device interconnection verifier of FIG. 5.

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts, elements, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g.,physical storage media) to verify interconnection between media devicesand device meters with touch sensing integrated circuits are disclosedherein. Example methods disclosed herein include accessing an output ofa touch sensing integrated circuit associated with a meter, with thetouch sensing integrated circuit to electrically couple with aninterface of a media device monitored by the meter. For example, theinterface of the media device can be a powered interface, such as, butnot limited to, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a high-definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI) port, etc. Example methods disclosed hereinalso include determining the meter is coupled to the media device viathe interface in response to the output of the touch sensing integratedcircuit providing an error indication.

Some disclosed example methods further include determining the meter isuncoupled from the media device in response to the output of the touchsensing integrated circuit not providing the error indication. Forexample, in some such disclosed examples the touch sensing integratedcircuit is also electrically coupled to a reference capacitor having areference capacitance to cause the output of the touch sensingintegrated circuit to not provide the error indication when the meter isuncoupled from the media device. In some such disclosed examples, thereference capacitance is in the range of 100 picofarads (pF) to 1nanofarads (nF).

Additionally or alternatively, in some disclosed example methods, theinterface with which the touch sensing integrated circuit is to becoupled is a powered interface of the media device. Accordingly, somesuch disclosed example methods can further include detecting whetherpower is present on the power line, and determining an operating stateof the media device based on whether power is detected on the power lineand whether the meter is determined to be coupled to the media devicevia the powered interface. For example, some such disclosed examplemethods include determining the operating state of the media device tobe an on state in response to detecting power on the power line,determining the operating state of the media device to be an off statein response to not detecting power on the power line and determining themeter is coupled to the media device via the powered interface, anddetermining the operating state of the media device to be indeterminatein response to not detecting power on the power line and determining themeter is uncoupled from the media device. Additionally or alternatively,some such disclosed example methods include uncoupling the touch sensingintegrated circuit from the power line of the powered interface inresponse to detecting power on the power line, and coupling the touchsensing integrated circuit to the power line in response to notdetecting power on the power line.

These and other example methods, apparatus, systems and articles ofmanufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to verify interconnectionbetween media devices and device meters with touch sensing integratedcircuits are disclosed in further detail below.

As noted above, to enable accurate crediting of media exposure at themonitored site, some site meters monitor the operating state of amonitored media device to determine whether the media device is poweredoff and not capable of presenting media, or powered on and capable ofpresenting media. For example, some prior site meters monitor theoperating state of a media device by detecting whether power, such as avoltage or current, is being provided by a physical, powered interfaceof the media device, such as a universal serial bus (USB) port, ahigh-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, etc. For example, suchprior meters may be coupled to the USB port of the media device andsense whether power is present on the USB power line. If USB power isdetected, the prior site meters determine the media device is poweredon. Conversely, if USB power is not detected, the prior site meters maydetermine the media device is powered off. However, such prior sitemeters may be unable to distinguish between USB power not being detectedbecause the monitored media device is powered off, or because the sitemeter was physically decoupled from the USB port of the media device.

The present disclosure provides example technical solutions to thetechnical problem of determining whether a site meter, which is designedto be coupled to a powered interface (e.g., USB port, HDMI port, etc.)of a monitored media device, is not detecting power from the monitoredmedia device because the monitored media device is powered off, orbecause the site meter has been physically decoupled from the poweredinterface of the monitored media device. Some such disclosed exampletechnical solutions are provided for a site meter by an example enhancedoperating state detector including an example device interconnectionverifier implemented in accordance with the teachings of this disclosureto verify interconnection between media devices and meters using touchsensing integrated circuits. For example, such a disclosed exampleenhanced operating state detector is able to not only detect whetherpower is present or absent on the powered interface (e.g., USB port,HDMI port, etc.) of the monitored media device, but is also able todetect whether the site meter has been physically decoupled from thepowered interface of the media device. In some examples disclosedherein, the enhanced operating state detector includes an example powerdetector (e.g., a voltage detector, a current detector, etc.) capable ofbeing coupled to the power pins of a powered interface (e.g., USB port,HDMI port, etc.) of the monitored media device to detect whether poweris being provided by the media device. Some such disclosed exampleenhanced operating state detectors also include an example deviceinterconnection verifier with an example touch sensing integratedcircuit (TSI or TSIC) capable of being coupled to the power pins of thepowered interface (e.g., USB port, HDMI port, etc.) of the monitoredmedia device to sense capacitance across the power pins, which theexample device interconnection verifier uses to determine whether thesite meter has been unplugged from the media device.

For example, if power is detected on the powered interface (e.g., USBport, HDMI port, etc.) of the monitored media device, the media deviceis determined to be powered on (e.g., capacitance can be ignored).However, in some such examples, if power is not detected on the poweredinterface, then the media device is determined to be powered off if theTSI returns an error indication (such as an out-of-range indication, afailure indication, etc., or any other indication of an errorcondition), which would be caused by the media device's bulk capacitanceexceeding the capacitance range supported by the TSI. Otherwise, iflittle to no bulk capacitance is present and the TSI does not return anyerror indication (e.g., because the sensed capacitance was in thecapacitance range supported by the TSI), the site meter is determined tobe uncoupled from (e.g., unplugged from) the powered interface (e.g.,USB port, HDMI port, etc.) of the monitored media device.

Note, example technical solutions disclosed herein, which verifyinterconnection between media devices and meters using TSIs, are unlikeprior capacitance sensing techniques that measure the capacitance acrossUSB power lines of a host device and compare the measured capacitance toa threshold to determine whether an external device has been decoupledfrom the host device. Such prior techniques require calibration of thedetection threshold because bulk capacitance can vary among hostdevices. In contrast, example technical solution disclosed herein toverify interconnection between media devices and meters utilize a TSI toindirectly measure whether the bulk capacitance of the media device ispresent on the power line of, for example, a USB port of the mediadevice, and/or some other powered interface (e.g., HDMI port) of themedia device. For example, a TSI is generally configured to measure alow capacitance, such as from 10 picofarads to 1.5 nanofarads, inducedby a human finger touching a sensor (e.g., a touchscreen). However, thebulk capacitance, C_(HOST), of a monitored media device typically willbe orders of magnitude larger than the capacitance range supported bythe TSI. Thus, if a site meter includes an example deviceinterconnection verifier (or an example enhanced operating statedetectors with an example device interconnection verifier) implementedwith a TSI in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure, when thesite meter is connected to the monitored media device, the mediadevice's bulk capacitance, C_(HOST), will be so large as to cause aregister (e.g., such as a status register) of the TSI to output a valueproviding an error indication (such as an out-of-range indication, afailure indication, etc., or any other indication of an errorcondition). Without involving any comparison to a threshold, such anerror indication register value can indicate the site meter isinterconnected with the monitored media device. However, if the sitemeter is not connected with (e.g., is unplugged from) the monitoredmedia device, the TSI register will not return the error indicationbecause the TSI will sense a valid capacitance, which may be ensured byalso coupling the TSI with a reference capacitor, C_(REF), having acapacitance in the range supported by the TSI. Thus, any valid outputfrom the TSI, or the lack of a TSI output (e.g., register) providing anerror indication, can indicate the site meter has been uncoupled from(e.g., is not plugged into) the monitored media device.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example audience measurement systemconstructed to include functionality to verify interconnection betweenmedia devices and device meters with touch sensing integrated circuitsin accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. In the illustratedexample of FIG. 1, an example media presentation environment 102includes example panelists 104, 106, an example media device 110 (alsoreferred to as a media presentation device) that receives media from anexample media source 112, and an example meter 114. The example meter114 identifies the media presented by the example media device 110 andreports media monitoring information to an example central facility 190of an example audience measurement entity via an example gateway 140 andan example network 180. In some examples, the meter 114 is referred toas a site meter, a device meter, an audience measurement device, etc. Asdisclosed in further detail below, the meter 114 is able to verifyinterconnection between the media device 110 and the meter 114 with anexample touch sensing integrated circuit in accordance with theteachings of this disclosure.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example media presentationenvironment 102 is a room of a household (e.g., a room in a home of apanelist, such as the home of a “Nielsen family”). In the illustratedexample of FIG. 1, the example panelists 104, 106 of the household havebeen statistically selected to develop media ratings data (e.g.,television ratings data) for a population/demographic of interest.People become panelists via, for example, a user interface presented ona media device (e.g., via the media device 110, via a website, etc.).People become panelists in additional or alternative manners such as,for example, via a telephone interview, by completing an online survey,etc. Additionally or alternatively, people may be contacted and/orenlisted using any desired methodology (e.g., random selection,statistical selection, phone solicitations, Internet advertisements,surveys, advertisements in shopping malls, product packaging, etc.). Insome examples, an entire family may be enrolled as a household ofpanelists. That is, while a mother, a father, a son, and a daughter mayeach be identified as individual panelists, their viewing activitiestypically occur within the family's household.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, one or more panelists 104, 106 ofthe household have registered with an audience measurement entity (e.g.,by agreeing to be a panelist) and have provided their demographicinformation to the audience measurement entity as part of a registrationprocess to enable associating demographics with media exposureactivities (e.g., television exposure, radio exposure, Internetexposure, etc.). The demographic data includes, for example, age,gender, income level, educational level, marital status, geographiclocation, race, etc., of a panelist. While the example mediapresentation environment 102 is a household in the illustrated exampleof FIG. 1, the example media presentation environment 102 canadditionally or alternatively be any other type(s) of environments suchas, for example, a theater, a restaurant, a tavern, a retail location,an arena, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example media device 110 is atelevision. However, the example media device 110 can correspond to anytype of audio, video and/or multimedia device capable of presentingmedia audibly and/or visually. In some examples, the media device 110(e.g., a television) may communicate audio to another media device(e.g., an audio/video receiver) for output by one or more speakers(e.g., surround sound speakers, a sound bar, etc.). As another example,the media device 110 can correspond to a multimedia computer system, apersonal digital assistant, a cellular/mobile smartphone, a radio, ahome theater system, stored audio and/or video played back from amemory, such as a digital video recorder or a digital versatile disc, awebpage, and/or any other communication device capable of presentingmedia to an audience (e.g., the panelists 104, 106).

The media device 110 receives media from the media source 112. The mediasource 112 may be any type of media provider(s), such as, but notlimited to, a cable media service provider, a radio frequency (RF) mediaprovider, an Internet based provider (e.g., IPTV), a satellite mediaservice provider, etc., and/or any combination thereof. The media may beradio media, television media, pay per view media, movies, InternetProtocol Television (IPTV), satellite television (TV), Internet radio,satellite radio, digital television, digital radio, stored media (e.g.,a compact disk (CD), a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk,etc.), any other type(s) of broadcast, multicast and/or unicast medium,audio and/or video media presented (e.g., streamed) via the Internet, avideo game, targeted broadcast, satellite broadcast, video on demand,etc. For example, the media device 110 can correspond to a televisionand/or display device that supports the National Television StandardsCommittee (NTSC) standard, the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) standard,the Systeme Electronique pour Couleur avec Mémoire (SECAM) standard, astandard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC),such as high definition television (HDTV), a standard developed by theDigital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Project, etc. Advertising, such as anadvertisement and/or a preview of other programming that is or will beoffered by the media source 112, etc., is also typically included in themedia.

In examples disclosed herein, an audience measurement entity providesthe meter 114 to the panelist 104, 106 (or household of panelists) suchthat the meter 114 may be installed by the panelist 104, 106 by simplypowering the meter 114 and placing the meter 114 in the mediapresentation environment 102 and/or near the media device 110 (e.g.,near a television set). In some examples, more complex installationactivities may be performed such as, for example, affixing the meter 114to the media device 110, electronically connecting the meter 114 to themedia device 110, etc. The example meter 114 detects exposure to mediaand electronically stores monitoring information (e.g., a code detectedwith the presented media, a signature of the presented media, anidentifier of a panelist present at the time of the presentation, atimestamp of the time of the presentation) of the presented media. Thestored monitoring information is then transmitted back to the centralfacility 190 via the gateway 140 and the network 180. While the mediamonitoring information is transmitted by electronic transmission in theillustrated example of FIG. 1, the media monitoring information mayadditionally or alternatively be transferred in any other manner, suchas, for example, by physically mailing the meter 114, by physicallymailing a memory of the meter 114, etc.

The meter 114 of the illustrated example combines audience measurementdata and people metering data. For example, audience measurement data isdetermined by monitoring media output by the media device 110 and/orother media device(s), and audience identification data (also referredto as demographic data, people monitoring data, etc.) is determined frompeople monitoring data provided to the meter 114. Thus, the examplemeter 114 provides dual functionality of an audience measurement meterthat is to collect audience measurement data, and a people meter that isto collect and/or associate demographic information corresponding to thecollected audience measurement data.

For example, the meter 114 of the illustrated example collects mediaidentifying information and/or data (e.g., signature(s), fingerprint(s),code(s), tuned channel identification information, time of exposureinformation, etc.) and people data (e.g., user identifiers, demographicdata associated with audience members, etc.). The media identifyinginformation and the people data can be combined to generate, forexample, media exposure data (e.g., ratings data) indicative ofamount(s) and/or type(s) of people that were exposed to specificpiece(s) of media distributed via the media device 110. To extract mediaidentification data, the meter 114 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1monitors for watermarks (sometimes referred to as codes) included in thepresented media and/or generates signatures (sometimes referred to asfingerprints) representative of the presented media

Audio watermarking is a technique used to identify media such astelevision broadcasts, radio broadcasts, advertisements (televisionand/or radio), downloaded media, streaming media, prepackaged media,etc. Existing audio watermarking techniques identify media by embeddingone or more audio codes (e.g., one or more watermarks), such as mediaidentifying information and/or an identifier that may be mapped to mediaidentifying information, into an audio and/or video component. In someexamples, the audio or video component is selected to have a signalcharacteristic sufficient to hide the watermark. As used herein, theterms “code” or “watermark” are used interchangeably and are defined tomean any identification information (e.g., an identifier) that may beinserted or embedded in the audio or video of media (e.g., a program oradvertisement) for the purpose of identifying the media or for anotherpurpose such as tuning (e.g., a packet identifying header). As usedherein “media” refers to audio and/or visual (still or moving) contentand/or advertisements. To identify watermarked media, the watermark(s)are extracted and used to access a table of reference watermarks thatare mapped to media identifying information.

Unlike media monitoring techniques based on codes and/or watermarksincluded with and/or embedded in the monitored media, fingerprint orsignature-based media monitoring techniques generally use one or moreinherent characteristics of the monitored media during a monitoring timeinterval to generate a substantially unique proxy for the media. Such aproxy is referred to as a signature or fingerprint, and can take anyform (e.g., a series of digital values, a waveform, etc.) representativeof any aspect(s) of the media signal(s)(e.g., the audio and/or videosignals forming the media presentation being monitored). A signature maybe a series of signatures collected in series over a timer interval. Agood signature is repeatable when processing the same mediapresentation, but is unique relative to other (e.g., different)presentations of other (e.g., different) media. Accordingly, the term“fingerprint” and “signature” are used interchangeably herein and aredefined herein to mean a proxy for identifying media that is generatedfrom one or more inherent characteristics of the media.

Signature-based media monitoring generally involves determining (e.g.,generating and/or collecting) signature(s) representative of a mediasignal (e.g., an audio signal and/or a video signal) output by amonitored media device and comparing the monitored signature(s) to oneor more references signatures corresponding to known (e.g., reference)media sources. Various comparison criteria, such as a cross-correlationvalue, a Hamming distance, etc., can be evaluated to determine whether amonitored signature matches a particular reference signature. When amatch between the monitored signature and one of the referencesignatures is found, the monitored media can be identified ascorresponding to the particular reference media represented by thereference signature that with matched the monitored signature. Becauseattributes, such as an identifier of the media, a presentation time, abroadcast channel, etc., are collected for the reference signature,these attributes may then be associated with the monitored media whosemonitored signature matched the reference signature. Example systems foridentifying media based on codes and/or signatures are long known andwere first disclosed in Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

Depending on the type(s) of metering the meter 114 is to perform, themeter 114 can be physically coupled to the media device 110 or may beconfigured to capture audio emitted externally by the media device 110(e.g., free field audio) such that direct physical coupling to the mediadevice 110 is not required. For example, the meter 114 of theillustrated example may employ non-invasive monitoring not involving anyphysical connection to the media device 110 (e.g., via Bluetooth®connection, WIFI® connection, acoustic sensing via one or moremicrophone(s) and/or other acoustic sensor(s), etc.) and/or invasivemonitoring involving one or more physical connections to the mediadevice 110 (e.g., via USB connection, a High Definition Media Interface(HDMI) connection, an Ethernet cable connection, etc.).

In examples disclosed herein, to monitor media presented by the mediadevice 110, the meter 114 of the illustrated example senses audio (e.g.,acoustic signals or ambient audio) output (e.g., emitted) by the mediadevice 110. For example, the meter 114 processes the signals obtainedfrom the media device 110 to detect media and/or source identifyingsignals (e.g., audio watermarks, audio signatures) embedded in and/orgenerated from portion(s) (e.g., audio portions) of the media presentedby the media device 110. To, for example, sense ambient audio output bythe media device 110, the meter 114 of the illustrated example includesan example acoustic sensor (e.g., a microphone). In some examples, themeter 114 may process audio signals obtained from the media device 110via a direct cable connection to detect media and/or source identifyingaudio watermarks embedded in such audio signals.

To generate exposure data for the media, identification(s) of media towhich the audience is exposed are correlated with people data (e.g.,presence information) collected by the meter 114. The meter 114 of theillustrated example collects inputs (e.g., audience identification data)representative of the identities of the audience member(s) (e.g., thepanelists 104, 106). In some examples, the meter 114 collects audienceidentification data by periodically and/or a-periodically promptingaudience members in the media presentation environment 102 to identifythemselves as present in the audience. In some examples, the meter 114responds to predetermined events (e.g., when the media device 110 isturned on, a channel is changed, an infrared control signal is detected,etc.) by prompting the audience member(s) to self-identify. The audienceidentification data and the exposure data can then be complied with thedemographic data collected from audience members such as, for example,the panelists 104, 106 during registration to develop metricsreflecting, for example, the demographic composition of the audience.The demographic data includes, for example, age, gender, income level,educational level, marital status, geographic location, race, etc., ofthe panelist.

In some examples, the meter 114 may be configured to receive panelistinformation via an input device such as, for example, a remote control,an Apple® iPad®, a cell phone, etc. In such examples, the meter 114prompts the audience members to indicate their presence by pressing anappropriate input key on the input device. The meter 114 of theillustrated example may also determine times at which to prompt theaudience members to enter information to the meter 114. In someexamples, the meter 114 of FIG. 1 supports audio watermarking for peoplemonitoring, which enables the meter 114 to detect the presence of apanelist-identifying metering device in the vicinity (e.g., in the mediapresentation environment 102) of the media device 110. For example, theacoustic sensor of the meter 114 is able to sense example audio output(e.g., emitted) by an example panelist-identifying metering device, suchas, for example, a wristband, a cell phone, etc., that is uniquelyassociated with a particular panelist. The audio output by the examplepanelist-identifying metering device may include, for example, one ormore audio watermarks to facilitate identification of thepanelist-identifying metering device and/or the panelist 104 associatedwith the panelist-identifying metering device.

The meter 114 of the illustrated example communicates with a remotelylocated central facility 190 of the audience measurement entity. In theillustrated example of FIG. 1, the example meter 114 communicates withthe central facility 190 via a gateway 140 and a network 180. Theexample meter 114 of FIG. 1 sends media identification data and/oraudience identification data to the central facility 190 periodically,a-periodically and/or upon request by the central facility 190.

The example gateway 140 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 can beimplemented by a router that enables the meter 114 and/or other devicesin the media presentation environment (e.g., the media device 110) tocommunicate with the network 180 (e.g., the Internet.)

In some examples, the example gateway 140 facilitates delivery of mediafrom the media source(s) 112 to the media device 110 via the Internet.In some examples, the example gateway 140 includes gateway functionalitysuch as modem capabilities. In some other examples, the example gateway140 is implemented in two or more devices (e.g., a router, a modem, aswitch, a firewall, etc.). The gateway 140 of the illustrated examplemay communicate with the network 126 via Ethernet, a digital subscriberline (DSL), a telephone line, a coaxial cable, a USB connection, aBluetooth connection, any wireless connection, etc.

In some examples, the example gateway 140 hosts a Local Area Network(LAN) for the media presentation environment 102. In the illustratedexample, the LAN is a wireless local area network (WLAN), and allows themeter 114, the media device 110, etc., to transmit and/or receive datavia the Internet. Alternatively, the gateway 140 may be coupled to sucha LAN.

The network 180 of the illustrated example can be implemented by a widearea network (WAN) such as the Internet. However, in some examples,local networks may additionally or alternatively be used. Moreover, theexample network 180 may be implemented using any type of public orprivate network such as, but not limited to, the Internet, a telephonenetwork, a local area network (LAN), a cable network, and/or a wirelessnetwork, or any combination thereof.

The central facility 190 of the illustrated example is implemented byone or more servers. The central facility 190 processes and stores datareceived from the meter(s) 114. For example, the example centralfacility 190 of FIG. 1 combines audience identification data and programidentification data from multiple households to generate aggregatedmedia monitoring information. The central facility 190 generates reportsfor advertisers, program producers and/or other interested parties basedon the compiled statistical data. Such reports include extrapolationsabout the size and demographic composition of audiences of content,channels and/or advertisements based on the demographics and behavior ofthe monitored panelists.

As noted above, the meter 114 of the illustrated example provides acombination of media metering and people metering. The meter 114 of FIG.1 includes its own housing, processor, memory and/or software to performthe desired media monitoring and/or people monitoring functions. Theexample meter 114 of FIG. 1 is a stationary device disposed on or nearthe media device 110. To identify and/or confirm the presence of apanelist present in the media presentation environment 102, the examplemeter 114 of the illustrated example includes a display. For example,the display provides identification of the panelists 104, 106 present inthe media presentation environment 102. For example, in the illustratedexample, the meter 114 displays indicia (e.g., illuminated numericalnumerals 1, 2, 3, etc.) identifying and/or confirming the presence ofthe first panelist 104, the second panelist 106, etc. In the illustratedexample, the meter 114 is affixed to a top of the media device 110.However, the meter 114 may be affixed to the media device in any otherorientation, such as, for example, on a side of the media device 110, onthe bottom of the media device 110, and/or may not be affixed to themedia device 110. For example, the meter 114 may be placed in a locationnear the media device 110.

FIG. 2 is an example front view of the example meter 114 of FIG. 1. Inthe illustrated example of FIG. 2, the example meter 114 includes anexample housing 210. In examples disclosed herein, the housing 210 is tobe affixed to the media device 110. For example, the housing may beaffixed to a top of the media device 110, may be affixed to a bottom ofthe media device 110, may be affixed to a side of the media device 110,etc. In some examples, the housing 210 of the meter 114 is not affixedto the media device 110. For example, the housing 210 may be placed inany other location within the media presentation environment 102 suchthat audio may be received by the meter 114.

FIG. 3 is an example rear view of the example meter 114 of FIG. 1. Inthe illustrated example of FIG. 3, the example housing 210 includes anexample USB port 340. In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the USB port340 enables a USB cable 345 to connect the example meter 114 to anexternal power source (e.g., a power source provided by the media device110). However, any other type(s) and/or number(s) of ports, cables,power source(s), etc. may additionally or alternatively be used.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the meter 114of FIGS. 1-3, and further illustrates an example of interconnecting themeter 114 with the example media device 110. In the illustrated exampleof FIG. 4, the meter 114 receives power from an external source (e.g.,the example media device 110, a charger plugged into a wall outlet,etc.) via the example USB port 340 when the example USB cable 345 iscoupled to (plugged into) the external source, such as the media device110, as shown. For example, the media device 110 of the illustratedexample has an example USB port 405 that provides electrical power to,for example, an external device, such as the meter 114. In someexamples, the media device 110 may provide power to an external devicevia a different type of powered interface accessible via any type ofport such as, for example, a High Definition Media Interface (HDMI)port, an Ethernet port, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the meter 114 further utilizes theUSB interface with the media device 110 provided by the USB cable 345and USB ports 340 and 405 280 to perform media monitoring associatedwith the media device 110. For example, the meter uses this USBinterface to determine whether the media device 110 is powered on,determine which input is being presented via the media device 110,determine which speakers are being used by the media device 110, etc. Insome examples, the connection is an HDMI connection, and the meter 114communicates with the media device 110 using an HDMI ConsumerElectronics Control (CEC) protocol.

The example meter 114 of FIG. 4 also includes an example battery 410.The example battery 410 of the illustrated example of FIG. 4 storespower for use by the meter 114. The example battery 410 enablesoperation of the meter 114 when power is not being supplied to the meter114 via the USB port 340. In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, theexample battery 410 is implemented using a lithium-ion battery. However,any other type of battery may additionally or alternatively be used. Inthe illustrated example of FIG. 4, the example battery 410 isrechargeable. As such, the example battery 410 may be recharged whilethe meter 114 receives power via the USB port 340 (e.g., while the mediadevice 110 is powered on), to facilitate operation of the meter 114 whenthe meter 114 is not receiving power via the USB port 340 (e.g., whilethe media device 110 is powered off). However, in some examples, theexample battery 410 may be non-rechargeable.

The example meter 114 of the illustrated example of FIG. 4 furtherincludes an example operating state detector 415 to determine anoperating state of the example media device 110. In the illustratedexample of FIG. 4, the operating state detector 415 is electricallycoupled to an example power line 420 provided by a power pin of the USBport 340. The operating state detector 415 of the illustrated exampledetermines whether the media device 110 is powered on (or, in otherwords, on, active, activated, etc.) or powered off (or, in other words,off, inactive, deactivated, etc.) by detecting whether power of beingprovided by the media device 110 via the USB interface to the power line420. The operating state detector 415 of the illustrated example outputsthe determined operating state of the media device 110 via an exampleoutput 425. For example, if the operating state detector 415 detectspower (e.g., a voltage, a current, etc.) on the power line 420, theoperating state detector 415 determines the media device 110 is poweredon and outputs this powered on determination via an appropriateindication, value, etc., via the example output 425. However, if theoperating state detector 415 does not detect power on the power line420, this lack of power could be caused by the media device 110 beingpowered off, or because the meter 114 has been physically decoupled fromthe USB port 405 of the media device 110.

To distinguish between whether the power is not detected on the powerline 420 because the media device 110 is powered off or because themeter 114 has been physically decoupled from the USB port 405 of themedia device 110, the operating state detector 415 of the illustratedexample is enhanced to verify the interconnection between the meter 114and the media device 110 with an example touch sensing integratedcircuit (TSI) 430 in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.For example, the TSI 430 is electrically coupled to the power pins ofthe USB port 340 of the meter 114 and, thus, is electrically coupled tothe power line 420. The TSI 430 of the illustrated example senses thecapacitance associated with the power line 420 (e.g., across the powerpins of the USB port 340), which the example enhanced operating statedetector 415 uses to determine whether the meter 114 has been unpluggedfrom the media device 110.

For example, to verify interconnection between the example meter 114 andthe example media device 110, the enhanced operating state detector 415of the illustrated example meter 114 utilizes the TSI 430 to indirectlymeasure whether the bulk capacitance of the media device 110 is presenton the power line 420 the USB port 340 of the meter 114, which iselectrically coupled to the USB port 405 of the media device 110 via theUSB cable 345. For example, a TSI, such as the example TSI 430, isgenerally configured to measure a low capacitance, such as from 100 pFto 1 nF, induced by a human finger touching a sensor (e.g., atouchscreen). However, the bulk capacitance, C_(HOST), of the monitoredmedia device 110 (which is indicated by reference numeral 435 if FIG. 4)typically will be orders of magnitude larger than the capacitance rangesupported by the TSI 430. Thus, when the site meter 114 of theillustrated example is connected to the monitored media device 110, themedia device's bulk capacitance 435, C_(HOST), will be so large as tocause an output of the TSI 430, such as a register (e.g., a statusregister), to output a value providing an error indication (such as anout-of-range indication, a failure indication, etc., or any otherindication of an error condition). Without involving any comparison to athreshold, such an error indication can indicate the site meter 114 isinterconnected with the monitored media device 110. However, if the sitemeter 114 of the illustrated example is not connected with (e.g., isunplugged from) the monitored media device 110, the TSI 430 will notreturn the error indication because the TSI 430 will sense a validcapacitance, which may be ensured by also coupling the TSI 430 with anexample reference capacitor 440, C_(REF), as shown. The referencecapacitor 440, C_(REF), of the illustrated example has a capacitance inthe range supported by the TSI 430. For example, the reference capacitor440, C_(REF), can have a capacitance in the range of 100 pF to 1 nF, orsome other range, as appropriate. Thus, any valid output from the TSI430, or the lack of an output/register of the TSO 430 providing an errorindication, can indicate the site meter 114 has been uncoupled from(e.g., is not plugged into) the monitored media device 110.

Thus, in the illustrated example of FIG. 4, if the enhanced operatingstate detector 415 detects power on the power line 420 of the mediadevice 110, the operating state detector 415 determines the media device110 is powered on and, thus, any capacitance sensed by the TSI 430 canbe ignored. However, if the enhanced operating state detector 415 doesnot detect power on the powered power line 420, then the operating statedetector 415 determines whether an output of the TSI 430 has returned anerror indication. If the TSI 430 returns an error indication (such as anout-of-range indication, a failure indication, etc., or any otherindication of an error condition), which would be caused by the mediadevice's bulk capacitance 435 exceeding the capacitance range supportedby the TSI 430, the enhanced operating state detector 415 determines themeter 114 is coupled with the media device 110 and the lack of power isdue to the media device 110 being powered off. The example enhancedoperating state detector 415 then outputs this powered off determinationvia an appropriate indication, value, etc., via the example output 425.However, if the TSI 430 does not return any error indication (e.g.,because the media device's bulk capacitance 435 is not present and thesensed capacitance was in the capacitance range supported by the TSI430), the example enhanced operating state detector 415 determines thatthe site meter 114 is uncoupled from (e.g., unplugged from) the poweredinterface (e.g., USB port 405) of the monitored media device 110. Thus,in such an example, the enhanced operating state detector 415 canoutputs an appropriate indication, value, etc., via the example output425 to indicate the operating state of the media device 110 isindeterminate.

In some examples, the enhanced operating state detector 415 controlsexample switches 445-450 included in the example meter 114 to configurewhether the example battery 410 of the example TSI 430 is electricallycoupled with the power line 420 of the USB port 340 (and, thus, iselectrically coupled with the powered interface of the media device110). In some such examples, in response to detecting power (e.g., avoltage, a current, etc.) on the power line 420 of the meter's USB port340, the enhanced operating state detector 415 controls the exampleswitch 450 to electrically couple the example battery 410 to the powerline 420 to enable charging of the battery 410 and powering of the meter114 from the power line 420. In some such examples, in response todetecting power (e.g., a voltage, a current, etc.) on the power line 420of the meter's USB port 340, the enhanced operating state detector 415also controls the example switch 445 to electrically uncouple (or, inother words, decouple) the example TSI 430 from the power line 420(e.g., because the output of the TSI 430 is not needed when power isdetected on the power line 420, and to protect the TSI 430). However, insome such examples, in response to not detecting power (e.g., a voltage,a current, etc.) on the power line 420 of the meter's USB port 340, theenhanced operating state detector 415 controls the example switch 450 toelectrically uncouple (or, in other words, decouple) the example battery410 (and the meter 114) from the power line 420, which causes thebattery 410 to power the meter 114, including the operating statedetector 415. In some such examples, in response to not detecting power(e.g., a voltage, a current, etc.) on the power line 420 of the meter'sUSB port 340, the enhanced operating state detector 415 also controlsthe example switch 445 to electrically couple the example TSI 430 to thepower line 420, which allows the operating state detector 415 to use theoutput of the TSI 430 to verify whether the meter 114 is coupled to the110, as described above.

A block diagram of an example implementation of the enhanced operatingstate detector 415 of FIG. 4 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The exampleenhanced operating state detector 415 of FIG. 5 includes the example TSI430 of FIG. 4. The example TSI 430 can be implemented by any TSI orsimilar device, such as, for example, the CAP1293 TSI from MicrochipTechnology Inc.®, the MPRO31EPR2 TSI from Freescale Semiconductor Inc.®,etc. As described above, the TSI 430 includes an output (e.g., aregister) that provides an error indication (such as an out-of-rangeindication, a failure indication, etc., or any other indication of anerror condition) when the capacitance sensed by the TSI 430 exceeds itssupported capacitance range. As described above, the TSI 430 iselectrically coupled via the example switch 445 to the example powerline 420 of the example USB port 340 of the example meter 114, which isto electrically couple with a powered interface provided by a port(e.g., the example USB port 405, an HDMI port, etc.) of the monitoredmedia device 110.

The example enhanced operating state detector 415 of FIG. 5 alsoincludes an example device interconnection verifier 505 to process anoutput of the TSI 430 to determine whether the meter 114 is coupled tothe media device 110. For example, the device interconnection verifier505 determines the meter 114 is coupled to the media device 110 via thepowered interface associated with the power line 420 in response to theoutput of the TSI 430 providing the error indication (e.g., which is dueto the presence of the bulk capacitance 435 of the media device 110 onthe interface associated with the power line 420). However, in theillustrated example, the device interconnection verifier 505 determinesthe meter 114 is uncoupled from the media device 110 in response to theoutput of the TSI 430 not providing the error indication (e.g., which isdue to the bulk capacitance 435 of the media device 110 not beingpresent on the interface associated with power line 420).

In the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the enhanced operating statedetector 415 also includes an example power detector 510 to detectwhether power (e.g., voltage, current, etc.) is present on the examplepower line 420 associated with the powered interface provided by themedia device 110. In some examples, the power detector 510 of FIG. 5 isimplemented by a voltage comparator or similar circuit to detect whethervoltage exceeding a voltage threshold (e.g., 5 volts, 3.3 volts, 1.5volts, or any other appropriate value) is present on the power line 420.In such examples, the power detector 510 determines power is present onthe power line 420 when the voltage comparator detects a voltage on thepower line 420 that satisfies (e.g., meets or exceeds) the voltagethreshold, and determines power is not present when the voltage on thepower line 420 does not satisfy the voltage threshold. Additionally oralternatively, in some examples, the power detector 510 of FIG. 5 isimplemented by a current comparator or similar circuit to detect whethercurrent exceeding a current threshold (e.g., 10 milliamps, 50 milliamps,100 milliamps, or any other appropriate value) is present on the powerline 420. In such examples, the power detector 510 determines power ispresent on the power line 420 when the current comparator detects acurrent on the power line 420 that satisfies (e.g., meets or exceeds)the current threshold, and determines power is not present when thecurrent on the power line 420 does not satisfy the current threshold.

The example enhanced operating state detector 415 of FIG. 5 furtherincludes an example operating state verifier 515 to determine anoperating state of the media device 110 based on whether the examplepower detector 510 detects power on the example power line 420associated with the powered interface provided by the media device 110,and whether the example device interconnection verifier 505 determinesthe meter 114 is coupled to the media device 110 via the poweredinterface associated with the power line 420. For example, the operatingstate verifier 515 determines the operating state of the media device110 to be a powered on state in response to the power detector 510detecting power on the power line 420. Conversely, the operating stateverifier 515 of the illustrated example determines the operating stateof the media device 110 to be a powered off state in response to thepower detector 510 not detecting power on the power line 420 and thedevice interconnection verifier 505 determining, as described above,that the meter 114 is coupled to the media device 110 via the poweredinterface associated with the power line 420. However, the operatingstate verifier 515 of the illustrated example determines the operatingstate of the media device 110 to be indeterminate in response to thepower detector 510 not detecting power on the power line 420 and thedevice interconnection verifier 505 determining, as described above,that the meter 114 is uncoupled from the media device 110. The exampleoperating state verifier 515 of FIG. 5 then outputs a value, message,indication, etc., representing the determined operating state of themedia device 110 via the example output 425.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the enhanced operating statedetector 415 includes an example switch controller 520 to control anexample switch 445, which is configured to selectively couple the TSI430 to the power line 420 of the powered interface provided by the mediadevice 110, or uncouple the TSI 430 from the power line 420 of thepowered interface. For example, the switch controller 520 controls theswitch 445 to couple the TSI 430 to the power line 420 in response tothe power detector 510 not detecting power on the power line 420.However, in the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the switch controller 520controls the switch 445 uncouple the TSI 430 from the power line 420 inresponse to the power detector 510 detecting power on the power line420.

Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the switch controller520 is to control an example switch 450, which is configured toselectively couple the example battery 410 to the power line 420 of thepowered interface provided by the media device 110, or uncouple thebattery 410 from the power line 420 of the powered interface. Forexample, the switch controller 520 controls the switch 450 to couple thebattery 410 to the power line 420 in response to the power detector 510detecting power on the power line 420, which causes the power line 420to power the meter 114 and charge the battery 410. However, in theillustrated example of FIG. 5, the switch controller 520 controls theswitch 450 uncouple the battery 410 (and the meter 114) from the powerline 420 in response to the power detector 510 detecting power on thepower line 420, which causes the battery 410 to power the meter 114.

While an example manner of implementing the example enhanced operatingstate detector 415 of FIG. 4 is illustrated in FIG. 5, one or more ofthe elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 5 may becombined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implementedin any other way. Further, the example TSI 430, the example switches445-450, the example device interconnection verifier 505, the examplepower detector 510, the example operating state verifier 515, theexample switch controller 520 and/or, more generally, the exampleenhanced operating state detector 415 of FIG. 5 may be implemented byhardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware,software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the example TSI 430,the example switches 445-450, the example device interconnectionverifier 505, the example power detector 510, the example operatingstate verifier 515, the example switch controller 520 and/or, moregenerally, the example enhanced operating state detector 415 could beimplemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits,programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s)(ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example enhancedoperating state detector 415, the example TSI 430, the example switches445-450, the example device interconnection verifier 505, the examplepower detector 510, the example operating state verifier 515 and/or theexample switch controller 520 is/are hereby expressly defined to includea tangible computer readable storage device or storage disk such as amemory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. storing the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample enhanced operating state detector 415 may include one or moreelements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 5, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes and devices.

Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the example enhanced operating state detector 415, theexample TSI 430, the example switches 445-450, the example deviceinterconnection verifier 505, the example power detector 510, theexample operating state verifier 515 and/or the example switchcontroller 520 are shown in FIGS. 6-7. In these examples, the machinereadable instructions comprise one or more programs for execution by aprocessor, such as the processor 812 shown in the example processorplatform 800 discussed below in connection with FIG. 8. The one or moreprograms, or portion(s) thereof, may be embodied in software stored on atangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppydisk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray Disk™, ora memory associated with the processor 812, but the entire program orprograms and/or portions thereof could alternatively be executed by adevice other than the processor 812 and/or embodied in firmware ordedicated hardware (e.g., implemented by an ASIC, a PLD, an FPLD,discrete logic, etc.). Further, although the example program(s) is(are)described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 6-7,many other methods of implementing the example enhanced operating statedetector 415, the example TSI 430, the example switches 445-450, theexample device interconnection verifier 505, the example power detector510, the example operating state verifier 515 and/or the example switchcontroller 520 may alternatively be used. For example, with reference tothe flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 6-7, the order of execution of theblocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may bechanged, eliminated, combined and/or subdivided into multiple blocks.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 6-7 may beimplemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory(ROM), a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a cache, arandom-access memory (RAM) and/or any other storage device or storagedisk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extendedtime periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarilybuffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, theterm tangible computer readable storage medium is expressly defined toinclude any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage diskand to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. Asused herein, “tangible computer readable storage medium” and “tangiblemachine readable storage medium” are used interchangeably. Additionallyor alternatively, the example processes of FIGS. 6-7 may be implementedusing coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readableinstructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machinereadable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a ROM, a CD,a DVD, a cache, a RAM and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. As usedherein, when the phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in apreamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the terms“comprising” and “including” are open ended. Also, as used herein, theterms “computer readable” and “machine readable” are consideredequivalent unless indicated otherwise.

An example program 600 that may be executed to implement the exampledevice interconnection verifier 505 of the example enhanced operatingstate detector 415 of FIG. 5 is illustrated in FIG. 6. For convenience,and without loss of generality, execution of the example program 600 isdescribed from the context of the example enhanced operating statedetector 415 being included in the example meter 114 of FIGS. 1-4. Withreference to the preceding figures and associated written descriptions,execution of the example program 600 begins at block 605 at which theexample device interconnection verifier 505 accesses an output of theexample TSI 430, which is electrically coupled with a powered interfaceof the media device 110 via the example power line 420. At block 610,the device interconnection verifier 505 determines whether the output ofthe TSI 430 is providing an error indication. If the output of the TSI430 is providing the error indication (block 610), then at block 615,the device interconnection verifier 505 determines, as described above,that the meter 114 is coupled to the media device 110 via the poweredinterface associated with the power line 420. However, if the output ofthe TSI 430 is not providing the error indication (block 610), then atblock 620, the device interconnection verifier 505 determines, asdescribed above, that the meter 114 is uncoupled from the media device110 via the powered interface associated with the power line 420. Atblock 625, the device interconnection verifier 505 outputs (e.g., foruse by the example operating state verifier 515, as described above) itsdetermination as to whether the meter 114 is coupled to the media device110. Execution of the example program 600 then ends.

An example program 700 that may be executed to implement the exampleenhanced operating state detector 415 of FIGS. 4-5 is illustrated inFIG. 7. For convenience, and without loss of generality, execution ofthe example program 700 is described from the context of the exampleenhanced operating state detector 415 being included in the examplemeter 114 of FIGS. 1-4. With reference to the preceding figures andassociated written descriptions, execution of the example program 700begins at block 705 at which the example power detector 510 of theenhanced operating state detector 415 detects, as described above,whether power is present on the example power line 420 of the poweredinterface that is to couple the meter 114 to the media device 110. Ifpower is detected on the power line 420 (block 710), then at block 715,the example switch controller 520 of the enhanced operating statedetector 415 controls the example switch 450, as described above, tocause the meter 114 (and, thus, the operating state detector 415) to bepowered by the power line 420. At block 720, the switch controller 520controls the example switch 445 to uncouple the example TSI 430 from thepower line 420, as described above. At block 725, the example operatingstate verifier 515 of the enhanced operating state detector 415determines the operating state of the media device 110 to be thepowered-on state, as described above.

However, if power is not detected on the power line 420 (block 710),then at block 730, the switch controller 520 controls the switch 450, asdescribed above, to cause the meter 114 (and, thus, the operating statedetector 415) to be powered by the example battery 410. At block 735,the switch controller 520 controls the switch 445 to couple the exampleTSI 430 to the power line 420, as described above. Then, the deviceinterconnection verifier 505 of the enhanced operating state detector415 executes the example program 600 of FIG. 6 to process an output ofthe TSI 430 to determine, as described above, whether the meter 114 iscoupled to the media device 110 via the powered interface associatedwith the power line 420. If the device interconnection verifier 505determines the meter 114 is coupled to the media device 110, at block745, the operating state verifier 515 determines the operating state ofthe media device 110 to be the powered-off state, as described above.However, if the device interconnection verifier 505 determines the meter114 is uncoupled from the media device 110, at block 755, the operatingstate verifier 515 determines the operating state of the media device110 to be indeterminate, as described above. After making itsdetermination at block 725, block 745 or block 750, at block 755, theoperating state verifier 515 outputs, as described above, a value,message, indication, etc., representing the determined operating stateof the media device 110 via the example output 425. Execution of theexample program 700 then ends.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 800 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 6 and/or 7 to implement theexample operating state detector 415 of FIGS. 4 and/or 5. The processorplatform 800 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, amobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as aniPad′), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVDplayer, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, agaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any othertype of computing device.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 812. The processor 812 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 812 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers fromany desired family or manufacturer. In some examples, the exampleprocessor 812 is configured via example instructions 832, which includethe example instructions of FIGS. 6 and/or 7, to implement the exampledevice interconnection verifier 505, the example power detector 510, theexample operating state verifier 515 and/or the example switchcontroller 520 of the example enhanced operating state detector 415 ofFIGS. 4 and/or 5.

The processor 812 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 813(e.g., a cache). The processor 812 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 814 and anon-volatile memory 816 via a link 818. The link 818 may be implementedby a bus, one or more point-to-point connections, etc., or a combinationthereof. The volatile memory 814 may be implemented by SynchronousDynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory(DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any othertype of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 816 may beimplemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memorydevice. Access to the main memory 814, 816 is controlled by a memorycontroller.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 820. The interface circuit 820 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 822 are connectedto the interface circuit 820. The input device(s) 822 permit(s) a userto enter data and commands into the processor 812. The input device(s)can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, acamera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, atrack-pad, a trackball, a trackbar (such as an isopoint), a voicerecognition system and/or any other human-machine interface. Also, manysystems, such as the processor platform 800, can allow the user tocontrol the computer system and provide data to the computer usingphysical gestures, such as, but not limited to, hand or body movements,facial expressions, and face recognition.

One or more output devices 824 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 820 of the illustrated example. The output devices 824 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactileoutput device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 820 ofthe illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics drivercard, a graphics driver chip or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network826 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

In some examples, the interface circuit 820 is configured to implementthe example TSI 430 and/or the example switches 445-450 of the exampleenhanced operating state detector 415 of FIGS. 4 and/or 5.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 828 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 828 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID(redundant array of independent disks) systems, and digital versatiledisk (DVD) drives.

Coded instructions 832 corresponding to the instructions of FIGS. 6and/or 7 may be stored in the mass storage device 828, in the volatilememory 814, in the non-volatile memory 816, in the local memory 813and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium, such asa CD or DVD 836.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A meter to monitor a media device, the metercomprising: a touch sensing circuit including a circuit input and acircuit output, the circuit input to electrically couple with an inputpower line of the meter and a reference capacitor, the input power lineof the meter to electrically couple with an output power line of themedia device, the circuit output to provide a first value based on thereference capacitor when the input power line of the meter is notelectrically coupled with the output power line of the media device, thecircuit output to provide a second value different from the first valuewhen the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with theoutput power line of the media device; memory including computerreadable instructions; and a processor to execute the instructions to atleast: detect whether the input power line of the meter is powered;control a switch to uncouple the circuit input from the input power lineof the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and whenthe input power line of the meter is not powered, determine whether theinput power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the outputpower line of the media device based on whether the circuit outputprovides the second value.
 2. The meter of claim 1, wherein when theinput power line of the meter is not powered, the processor is to:determine the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled withthe output power line of the media device when the circuit outputprovides the second value; and determine the input power line of themeter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of themedia device when the circuit output does not provide the second value.3. The meter of claim 2, wherein the circuit output includes a register,the second value corresponds to a register value associated with anerror indication, and the first value corresponds to a register valuenot associated with the error indication.
 4. The meter of claim 2,wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, theprocessor is to determine the media device is powered off when thecircuit output provides the second value.
 5. The meter of claim 4,wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, theprocessor is to determine the media device is disconnected from themeter when the circuit output does not provide the second value.
 6. Themeter of claim 4, wherein when the input power line of the meter ispowered, the processor is to determine the media device is powered on.7. The meter of claim 1, wherein the processor is to control the switchto couple the circuit input with the input power line of the meter whenthe input power line of the meter is not powered.
 8. The meter of claim1, wherein the switch is a first switch, and the processor is to controla second switch to: couple a battery to the input power line of themeter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and uncouplethe battery from the input power line of the meter when the input powerline of the meter is not powered, the battery to power the meter whenthe input power line of the meter is not powered.
 9. A meter to monitora media device, the meter comprising: an integrated circuit to sensetouch, the integrated circuit having a circuit input electricallycoupled with an input power line of the meter, the input power line ofthe meter to electrically couple with an output power line of the mediadevice; and means for determining whether the input power line of themeter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the mediadevice based on a circuit output of the integrated circuit, the meansfor determining to: determine the input power line of the meter iselectrically coupled with the output power line of the media device whenthe circuit output of the integrated circuit provides an errorcondition; and determine the input power line of the meter is notelectrically coupled with the output power line of the media device whenthe circuit output of the integrated circuit does not provide the errorcondition.
 10. The meter of claim 9, wherein the circuit input of theintegrated circuit is also electrically coupled with a referencecapacitor, the reference capacitor to have a capacitance in a range thatis to cause the circuit output of the integrated circuit not to providethe error condition when the input power line of the meter is notelectrically coupled with the output power line of the media device. 11.The meter of claim 9, further including: means for detecting whether theinput power line of the meter is powered; and means for determining anoperating state of the media device.
 12. The meter of claim 11, whereinthe means for determining the operating state of the media device is todetermine the media device is powered on when the input power line ofthe meter is powered.
 13. The meter of claim 11, wherein the means fordetermining the operating state of the media device is to determine themedia device is powered off when (i) the input power line of the meteris not powered, and (ii) the circuit output of the integrated circuitprovides the error condition.
 14. The meter of claim 11, wherein themeans for determining the operating state of the media device is todetermine the media device is disconnected from the meter when (i) theinput power line of the meter is not powered, and (ii) the circuitoutput of the integrated circuit does not provide the error condition.15. The meter of claim 9, further including means for controllingwhether the circuit input of the integrated circuit is electricallycoupled with the input power line of the meter.
 16. The meter of claim15, wherein the means for controlling is to uncouple the circuit inputof the integrated circuit from the input power line of the meter whenthe input power line of the meter is powered.
 17. The meter of claim 16,wherein the means for controlling is to couple the circuit input of theintegrated circuit to the input power line of the meter when the inputpower line of the meter is not powered.
 18. The meter of claim 15,wherein the means for controlling is to control whether a battery iselectrically coupled to the input power line of the meter, the batteryto power the meter when the input power line of the meter is notpowered.
 19. The meter of claim 18, wherein the means for controlling isto: electrically couple the battery to the input power line of the meterwhen the input power line of the meter is powered; and uncouple thebattery from the input power line of the meter when the input power lineof the meter is not powered.